


Nightmare in the Mind Scape

by Magical_Persona



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24189232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Persona/pseuds/Magical_Persona
Summary: Everyone has a voice in the mind space. Especially when it comes to dreams. Sometimes Patton’s voice is the loudest and those dreams usually leave everyone with a warm feeling in their chest when they wake. Sometimes it’s Roman and the sides will wake invigorated and ready to take on the day. When Logan takes over it’s not particularly fun for anyone, but they’d all pick those over Virgil. When Virgil's dreams take over no one sleeps.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 76





	Nightmare in the Mind Scape

Virgil had nightmares. Everyone knew this. The light sides had known it long before they even got their heads around accepting the storm cloud as part of their group. Janus and Remus had known for even longer and while they had gotten used to the figurative storm clouds that brewed when Anxiety finally found sleep. This was different. This was no longer a simple storm, it was a hurricane. The sense of dread creeping over every part of you, soaking into your bones as you tried to wade through it.

Janus was rarely bothered by the nightmares by this point. Having had far more contact with Virgil than his three “light” companions. He knew it would go away as soon as Virgil woke, which, judging by the drop in temperature, shouldn’t be too much longer. But the dread never left. If anything it seeped past the warmth and humidity in Janus’ room.

By most accounts they left each other’s rooms alone. Sure they’d pop in from time to time just to mess with another side, but actually messing with their room, never. Even Remus abided by that rule. Rooms were off-limits because they reflected each of them. To go into another’s room and move something around or take something was like asking for a piece of your being to be taken from you.

But this cold was different. It wasn’t Virgil trying to mess with him. It wasn’t the purple side threatening his well-being. It was a cry for help. The same one Janus had answered when Virgil first appeared. The same call he thought had been passed to someone else. With a hiss of annoyance, he pulled himself from his bed, wrapping a blanket over his shoulders rather than his cape and forgoing the hat entirely.

The mind palace was a place they all existed and could all change if they felt the need. Granted Remus and Roman were more likely to change it than anyone else, but the dark purple sludge that faded into a glossy black made it quite clear who was in charge. The thick tar-like substance dripped from the ceiling, running down the walls to create deep pools at his feet.

If he looked for too long he swore he could see light floating in the darkness, begging him to follow. To give up and come with them. Fall into the tar where he’d never have to worry about a thing. Where he could hide away from the world. It wasn’t as if anyone would miss him. No one missed a liar. Snakes had earned their place on the side of evil and he was no different. If he fell here he could rest forever.

He hadn’t realized he had been so close to pushing his head into the tar, following those lights, until he had to force himself to stand up. He glared at the pool of glassy half liquid that sloshed against his ankles.

“Nice try, Virge,” Janus bit out.

It wasn’t necessarily Virgil’s fault. He was the embodiment of anxiety. He knew exactly what to say to make anyone doubt themselves. Even those who knew exactly who they were and had no qualms about it.

So Janus pressed on. Dragging his feet through the sludge as it continued rising. It sank into his boots, clung to his clothes like the residual stick of those  _ oh so wonderful _ sticky hands Remus insisted counted as decor.

By the time he reached the source his sloshing and mutterings had reached the three sides who were already gathered outside Virgil’s door. The black door was closed, though the oil poured out of it. Janus couldn’t shake the thought that they were looking at a dam about to burst.

“I thought you were better than this,” Janus grumbled. “I expected it from Roman, but  _ Morality _ letting poor Virgil suffer all by himself. You really are slipping.”

“I can’t get in,” Patton’s sad, disappointed voice was so quiet Janus almost missed it under Roman’s shout of: “Nobody asked you!”

But he’d heard it, and while he could go on pretending he hadn’t, really drive home that he didn’t care, but he did care. And maybe it was a good thing none of them had been able to get in. Virgil was having a nightmare and as much as these chuckle fucks tried, they were shit at taking care of themselves. And Janus was starting to get the feeling that lack of self-care was hitting Virgil harder than he let on.

Janus placed a gentle, ungloved hand on Patton’s shoulder. He knew how much comfort Patton could get from touch rather than words. And so far as Janus could tell it seemed to be working. Patten looked at him with eyes full of worry, but seeing the confidence on the other side’s face seemed to calm his shaking. Poor, sweet, innocent Patton. Always willing to follow the side with the most confidence. Which was probably why the moral compass tended to point toward the head more often than not. Speaking of Logan.

“You can’t get in?” Janus prompted.

“It seems that way,” Logan explained, brow creased as he tried to find a solution to their dilemma. Even he seemed to be feeling the effects of anxiety. “We’ve all tried, but we can’t get much further than this without being pushed back by Virgil’s fear. It’s perplexing, I’ve never had this problem before. We’ve even tried summoning him, but,” Logan shook his head. “He’s too far in this nightmare to be pulled out by something like that.”

“Summoning requires the other to be willing or at least have a sense of themselves,” Janus raised his chin taking on the confident air Logan so often portrayed. “You don’t have to come when someone calls you, the only one who could  _ force  _ it upon us is Thomas.”

“Yes, I know, it was…” Logan started only for his statement to fall flat. They all knew what it was. A last-ditch effort none of them had expected to work.

Janus looked at the door as a deep purple light pulsed behind it. With each pulse, more of the shimmering oil oozed from the cracks and the sides were pushed back as they struggled to fight past the waves of fear. Patton reached for the nearest thing which happened to be Janus, clinging to the snake as though his life depended on it. Maybe all of his time spent with the little guy made him soft because Janus wrapped his arms around Morality as the light side shook, trying to stay on his feet.

Roman and Logan weren’t fairing much better. Roman had fallen to his knees, that slick sludge encircling him, staining the pristine white clothes. His hands were clutched to the sides of his head, fingers twisted into fists around his brown locks. The prince’s head was shaking and while his mouth was moving, no doubt trying to force his insecurities away, no sound came out. Even as Roman tried to curl in on himself, very nearly plunging his head into the liquid surrounding them.

But it was Logan’s reaction that drew most of Janus’s attention. He needed the logical side to work with him. Not looking into the lights hidden just below the surface. Janus didn’t know what they promised the logical side, but it must have been something to combat the confusion of the scene playing out before him. Logan liked helping almost as much as morality. Janus knew not being able to go in there and pull Virgil out of this was hitting a little too close to home for him.

Logan reached for one of the lights just as Janus moved toward him. The sludge clinging to him, trying to pull Patton from his grasp and trip him every time he moved made things difficult. He wasn’t sure he’d make it in time, but just as Logan started vanishing into the inky blackness that was now licking at their knees Janus snatched the back of his shirt.

When Logan was pulled from the ick, lungs burning as they struggled to understand they could breathe again. With weak and shakey hands he clung to Janus until his feet were firmly under him and he could think a bit more clearly. They were all in danger. With Virgil unreachable they had two options. Try to wake him up or hope he would wake up on his own.

If this sludge took over they wouldn’t die. They were figments of Thomas, but it would be painful until Virgil managed to wake up. Plus, there was no telling how long it would take for Virgil to realize he could wake up. The worst part was they’d already tried waking Virgil. Patton had been the first to try sinking into Virgil’s room, only to be thrown against the wall and start coughing up that black ooze.

Summoning hadn’t worked, they’d even tried banging on the door in hopes the noise would alert Virgil that something wasn’t right. But even Roman’s shouts hadn’t been enough, the oil just kept creeping rising higher and higher until it would eventually consume them all.

“Logan?” Janus’ voice was almost too loud in his ear as his functions slowly returned. “Logan are you good?”

“I...I am functioning,” Logan replied, adjusting his glasses and taking in the world around them once again. “Why didn’t the anxiety affect you?”

“More on that later,” Janus gestured to Roman who didn’t seem to notice the oil level had risen to his chin. “Can you take care of him? I can’t babysit three of you at once.”

Logan’s face twisted, into the expression he used when he wanted to ask more, wanted to know more, but knew he couldn’t. So he gave Janus a curt nod and moved quickly to Roman’s side, pulling the prince out of the ichor.

Janus turned his attention to the side still shaking in his arms. Of course, Patton would be hit the most by this wave of fear. He always was more willing to show his emotions than the others. It made him overly adorable in most cases, and the ones where it didn’t it made him weak. Janus sighed, running his fingers through Patton’s hair until the softer side stopped shaking.

“Pat, can you hear me?”

There was only a whimper in response and that, quite frankly, wasn’t going to be good enough.

“You need to talk to me, Patton. How are you feeling?”

There were a few moments of silence before Patton took a shaky breath, looking up at Janus. “I’m okay. But,” he looked toward the door with that pulsing glow. “He’s all alone. He...I know he says he doesn’t care, but he doesn’t like being alone.”

“He’s not alone, his demons are with him,” Janus pointed out before he could stop himself. A tight smile crossed his lips as he huffed. “That wasn’t helpful. I’ll go in, wake him up and figure out what’s wrong.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Slimy Boy, no one can get close to the door. No way you’re getting inside.” Roman growled.

“In case  _ you _ haven’t noticed, Roman, I am not affected by Virgil’s outbursts.” Janus shot back, he could feel himself tensing, ready to strike, but there was something about Patton’s presence that stopped him from delivering a final blow laced in venom.

“Why?” It was Patton’s small, utterly defeated voice that made Janus’ heart ache.

For a moment Janus looked to Logan, to see which of them it was going to be. Who was going to explain this to the class? No doubt Logan had already figured it out, the look on his face said as much, but even so he gestured for Janus to speak.

“Because Virgil and I are...similar,” Janus’s voice was quiet. Maybe it would have been easier to just let Logan explain. “You call us dark, which isn’t exactly fair. We all  _ want _ what’s best for Thomas, it’s hardly our fault  _ you _ disagree with the methods we use. But I digress, each one of you has the capacity for deceit and I can use that  _ capacity _ to slip between the cracks.”

“No way each of us has the capacity to lie,” Roman forced a laugh. “ _ You’re _ the only one here with-”

“Roman,” Logan’s voice was low, a warning that if he continued he might not like what came back to bite him.

“It’s quite alright Logan, I’m almost as used to Roman’s outbursts of inferiority as I am Virgil’s fear.” Janus lifted Patton as far out of the muck as he could manage, carrying him to Logan’s side. Patton felt safest there and, more importantly, if Roman was going to incite an argument, Janus wanted to be free of the calming effects Patton’s presence often had.

He raised his chin, glaring in Roman’s direction. “Oh, of course Roman. How could I forget, you need everything explained to you like a child.” He pointed to Patton, “Character lies. Lies of omission.” he added pointing to Logan. Before Logan could contradict Janus’ eyes snapped in his direction. “You can’t tell me you haven’t  _ once _ only used sources you knew were going to give you the results you wanted. Or purposefully used too small of a sample size to get what you believed was the correct result.”

When Logan only glared Janus turned back to Roman. “Lies of commission,” he added pointing to the door with the flowing ooze. “That’s what most of his dreamt up end of the world scenarios are. And then there’s  _ you, _ Roman. What do you think all of those things you tell yourself are? They’re just lies. You aren’t anyone’s hero and you’re hardly a valiant protector of the weak. Just look at how you treat Virgil.”  _ Or me _ , but that thought went unsaid.

“I’m the prince!” Roman snapped, placing a hand over his heart.

“And how many storybook princes are truly good? I’d say it’s probably 50/50.” Janus pointed out.

“Princes are the embodiment of good-”

“Hans was the embodiment of  _ good _ ?” Janus interrupted.

“Prince Hans was an outlier and should not have been counted!” Roman snapped, summoning his sword to his hand.

“Of course, just like-”

“Enough!” Logan’s screech drew their attention to him. “That’s enough of your petty squabbling. Right now, Virgil needs our help and Janus is the only one who has a chance of getting into that room.”

Janus looked to the roiling sea of ick and felt his stomach churn. It was rising far more quickly than it had been before. They were running out of time before it would drown them all. Then they’d have nothing but pain to keep them company until Virgil woke himself.

“Well, I’ll be off then,” Janus said with a wave of their fingertips before he sank into the churning waters that surrounded them.

Virgil’s room was unexpectedly calm, for all the commotion the entity was causing. Virgil was wrapped tightly in his covers clutching to a stuffed spider. As Janus drew closer he could feel the purple light pulsing around Virgil’s sleeping form.

“Virgil?” Janus’ voice was soft if he was too loud things could go very wrong. If he woke Virgil by startling the poor thing he could end up hurt.

Unfortunately, Virgil didn’t stir at the sound of his name. The only movement was the flutter of his eyes behind his eyelids as he clutched the spider closer to his chest. His chest heaved as though he was trying to run a marathon and his hair was soaked with sweat. No wonder Virgil’s energy had seeped into the mind palace. He was having an even rougher go of it than Janus had seen before.

“Virge?” Janus asked, cautiously moving closer to the bed. He was within arm’s reach now and he might have to do the one thing he hated. “Virgil?” One more try, but the name fell upon deaf ears.

Janus took a deep breath to steady himself as he prepared for the rush of energy that was about to hit him. He placed a hand on Virgil’s shoulder and the result was almost instant. Virgil’s eyes snapped open as the purple energy with one last pulse, flew through the room, slamming into Janus before escaping into the hall. No doubt it hit the others as well.

Janus had one hand clutching at his chest as his heart raced, threatening to beat right out of his chest. While the other was balled tightly into Virgil’s bedsheets. The sludge was retreating back to the room, returning to its proper spot under Virgil’s bed.

Virgil was looking wildly around the room, unable to truly focus on what was going on around him. He could see Janus looking at him, but how could he be sure the side was actually here and not just some figment of his imagination come back to tell him he wasn’t wanted anywhere.

“Virge?” Janus asked when his mouth no longer felt filled with cotton. “You awake?”

“I think so,” Virgil’s voice was hesitant as his fingers flexed around the legs of the spider. “My body still feels asleep though.”

“What’s got you this worked up?” Janus asked, sitting on the bed where Virgil was curled.

“‘M not worked up,” Virgil mumbled, hiding his face in the pillow.

“Right, and everyone’s not outside because they certainly weren’t woken by  _ your _ sludge filling the place.” Janus pointed out. “Virgil, no one’s mad, we just want to know why you’re so upset.”

“Why does it scare me?” Virgil asked.

It took a moment for Janus to process what Virgil was saying through the cloth and then another moment for him to respond. “Why does what scare you? I might be able to impersonate, but I’ve not learned to read minds yet.”

“Being accepted.”

_ Oh _ . That’s why Virgil was scared. That’s why this nightmare had become such a problem for the others. Why Virgil had essentially shut them out and not him.

“Because being accepted is scary. You don’t know if they’re lying to you. The people in front of you, smiling to your face, could be thinking about how annoying you are, or how much they want to be rid of you. They might want you around, but there’s always going to be that little piece of you that thinks ‘what if they don’t’. That’s just who you are.”

Janus looked down at Virgil who seemed to be moving a bit more easily now. “But they’re out there, waiting for you. They kept trying to get in to  _ save _ ,” he said the word like it was poison on his tongue. “You. They care about your well being, and I think that’s enough to stay they’d like you to stick around.”

“But for how long?” Virgil asked, sitting up, though he still held the spider close to his chest.

“Who knows, but I say enjoy the time you are around,” Janus pointed out. “If they do decide you’re not worth it, it’s their loss, not yours.” He stood, holding his hand out to the frightened side. “But for now, you’ve got sides outside this room who are very concerned for you. Let’s go tell them you’re alright and have some hot cocoa and then maybe freak Roman out with a ouija board?”

Despite himself, Virgil smiled, and just for a moment, when Patton and Roman wrapped their arms around him, Virgil felt safe. Maybe everything would turn out alright in the end. Maybe when they inevitably found out about  _ him _ things wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe they wouldn’t hate Virgil for being unable to protect them once again.

They probably would, but maybe not.


End file.
